We aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 lock down on lifestyle in China during the initial stage of the pandemic. A questionnaire was distributed to Chinese adults living in 31 provinces of China via the internet using a snowball sampling strategy. Information on 7-day physical activity recall, screen time, and emotional state were collected between January 24 and February 2, 2020. ANOVA, χ² test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis. 12,107 participants aged 18–80 years were included. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, nearly 60% of Chinese adults had inadequate physical activity (95% CI 56.6%–58.3%), which was more than twice the global prevalence (27.5%, 25.0%–32.2%). Their mean screen time was more than 4 hours per day while staying at home (261.3 ± 189.8 min per day), and the longest screen time was found in young adults (305.6 ± 217.5 min per day). We found a positive and significant correlation between provincial proportions of confirmed COVID-19 cases and negative affect scores (r = 0.501, p = 0.004). Individuals with vigorous physical activity appeared to have a better emotional state and less screen time than those with light physical activity. During this nationwide lockdown, more than half of Chinese adults temporarily adopted a sedentary lifestyle with insufficient physical activity, more screen time, and poor emotional state, which may carry considerable health risks. Promotion of home-based self-exercise can potentially help improve health and wellness.

Given the disposability of somatic tissue, selection can favor a higher mutation rate in the early segregating soma than in germline, as seen in some animals. Although in plants intra-organismic mutation rate heterogeneity is poorly resolved, the same selectionist logic can predict a lower rate in shoot than in root and in longer-lived terminal tissues (e.g., leaves) than in ontogenetically similar short-lived ones (e.g., petals), and that mutation rate heterogeneity should be deterministic with no significant differences between biological replicates. To address these expectations, we sequenced 754 genomes from various tissues of eight plant species. Consistent with a selectionist model, the rate of mutation accumulation per unit time in shoot apical meristem is lower than that in root apical tissues in perennials, in which a high proportion of mutations in shoots are themselves transmissible, but not in annuals, in which somatic mutations tend not to be transmissible. Similarly, the number of mutations accumulated in leaves is commonly lower than that within a petal of the same plant, and there is no more heterogeneity in accumulation rates between replicate branches than expected by chance. High mutation accumulation in runners of strawberry is, we argue, the exception that proves the rule, as mutation transmission patterns indicate that runner has a restricted germline. However, we also find that in vitro callus tissue has a higher mutation rate (per unit time) than the wild-grown comparator, suggesting nonadaptive mutational “fragility”. As mutational fragility does not obviously explain why the shoot—root difference varies with plant longevity, we conclude that some mutation rate variation between tissues is consistent with selectionist theory but that a mechanistic null of mutational fragility should be considered.

Tetep is a rice cultivar known for broad-spectrum resistance to blast, a devastating fungal disease. The molecular basis for its broad-spectrum resistance is still poorly understood. Is it because Tetep has many moreNLRgenes than other cultivars? Or does Tetep possess multiple majorNLRgenes that can individually confer broad-spectrum resistance to blast? Moreover, are there many interactingNLRpairs in the Tetep genome? We sequenced its genome, obtained a high-quality assembly, and annotated 455 nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes. We cloned and tested 219NLRgenes as transgenes in 2 susceptible cultivars using 5 to 12 diversified pathogen strains; in many cases, fewer than 12 strains were successfully cultured for testing. Ninety clonedNLRs showed resistance to 1 or more pathogen strains and each strain was recognized by multipleNLRs. However, fewNLRs showed resistance to >6 strains, so multipleNLRs are apparently required for Tetep’s broad-spectrum resistance to blast. This was further supported by the pedigree analyses, which suggested a correlation between resistance and the number of Tetep-derivedNLRs. In developing a method to identifyNLRpairs each of which functions as a unit, we found that >20% of theNLRs in the Tetep and 3 other rice genomes are paired. Finally, we designed an extensive set of molecular markers for rapidly introducing clustered and pairedNLRs in the Tetep genome for breeding new resistant cultivars. This study increased our understanding of the genetic basis of broad-spectrum blast resistance in rice.

Leaf senescence is one of the key stages of plant leaf development. It is a highly complex but ordered process involving expression of large scale senescence associated genes, and its molecular mechanisms still remain unclear. By using suppression subtractive hybridization, 815 ESTs that are up-regulated at the onset of rice flag leaf senescence have been isolated. A total of 533 unigenes have been confirmed by macroarray detection and sequencing. 183 of these unigenes have GO annotations, involved in macromolecule metabolism, protein biosynthesis regulation, energy metabolism, gene expression regulations, detoxification, pathogenicity and stress, cytoskeleton organization and flower development. Another 121 unigenes co-localized with previously reported known stay-green QTLS. RT-PCR analysis on the other novel genes indicated that they can be up-regulated in natural early senescence and induced by hormone. Our results indicate that senescence is closely related to various metabolic pathways, thus providing new insight into the onset of leaf senescence mechanism.

Introduction Transgender women are exposed to stressful situations such as gender transition and transition-related discrimination because of their limited acceptance by the general population and inadequate government-supplied resources, which can compromise their quality of life (QOL). However, there is a paucity of research on the QOL of transgender women from China. Aims To assess the QOL of transgender women from China and explore its associated factors. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed by convenience sampling in Shenyang, China from January 2014 to July 2014. This sample consisted of 209 transgender women. The women were interviewed face-to-face to assess their QOL and related factors using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, the Adult Dispositional (Trait) Hope Scale, and the EGO Resilience Scale. Main Outcome Measures Response scores were calculated based on a questionnaire design. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to explore factors associated with QOL. Results Transgender women who used hormone therapy reported significantly lower levels of the physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS) compared with those who did not (P < .05). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that of the 23 independent variables, 8 were significantly associated with the PCS and 9 were significantly associated with the MCS. The PCS was significantly and negatively associated with age and being chased or insulted by law enforcement officials. The PCS was positively associated with not using hormone therapy, having no casual partners, less discrimination from friends, knowledge of HIV prevention, hope, and resilience. Educational level and being chased or insulted by law enforcement officials were negatively associated with the MCS, whereas not using hormone therapy, having no regular partners or casual partners, less discrimination from friends, less social discrimination, knowledge of HIV prevention, and hope were positively associated with the MCS. Conclusion Chinese transgender women reported high levels of physical QOL but low levels of mental QOL. Their mental QOL was more pronounced than their physical QOL. Transition status and sexual partnership played the most important roles in physical and mental health. Furthermore, mental QOL was best predicted by assessing positive capabilities, such as levels of hope. Future interventions should focus on recognizing transition status and identifying risky sexual partnerships, especially for the casual partners involved in these partnerships. In addition, positive capabilities are needed to ameliorate the negative impact of transition on QOL in Chinese transgender women.

Extensive studies have focused on the largest class of disease resistance genes (nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat, NBS-LRR) in various plants. However, no research on the dynamic evolution of these genes in domesticated species and their progenitors has been reported. Recently published genome sequences of bread wheat and its two ancestors provide a good opportunity for comparing NBS-encoding genes between ancestors and their progeny. Over 2000 NBS-encoding genes have been identified in bread wheat, which is the largest number having been reported so far. Compared with other grass species, its two progenitors also contained more NBS-encoding genes, indicating that there was an expansion of these genes in their common ancestor. Interestingly, the inherited relationships of NBS-LRR genes among the bread wheat and its two progenitors were ambiguous and only 3 % single-copy orthologues retained gene order in three-way genome comparisons of the three genomes. Lots of NBS-encoding genes present in the either ancestor could not be found in the bread wheat. These results indicated that NBS-LRR genes in bread wheat might have evolved rapidly through a rapid loss of ancestor genes.

The purpose of this study is to observe the potential of lung ultrasound in evaluating the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Lung ultrasound was performed in ten zones of the patients' chest walls. The features of the ultrasound images were observed, and a lung ultrasound score (LUS) was recorded. The ultrasound features and scores were compared between the refractory group (PaO 2 /FiO 2 ≤ 100 mm Hg or on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and the non-refractory group. The prediction value of the LUS was studied by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. In total, 7 patients were enrolled in the refractory group and 28 in the non-refractory group. B-line patterns and shred signs were the most common signs in all patients. Patients in the refractory group had significantly more ground-glass signs (median 6 [interquartile range {IQR}, 2.5–6.5] vs. median 0 [IQR, 0–3]), consolidation signs (median 1 [IQR, 1–1.5] vs. median 0 [IQR, 0–3]) and pleural effusions (median 5 [IQR, 1.5–6] vs. median 0 [IQR, 0–0.25]). The LUS was significantly higher in the refractory group (33.00 [IQR 27.50–34.00] vs. 25.50 [IQR 22.75–30.00]). The ROC of the LUS showed a cutoff score of 32 with a specificity of 0.893 and a sensitivity of 0.571 in diagnosing refractory respiratory failure among patients. In COVID-19 patients, lung ultrasound is a promising diagnostic tool in diagnosing patients with refractory pneumonia.

Peach (Prunus persica) is one of the most important and widely grown fruit trees in China; however, perennial gummosis on trunks and branches is a major problem in peach orchards of Hubei Province, one of the most important peach production areas of China. In order to identify the gummosis-causing agents, diseased trunks and branches were collected from 11 peach orchards in Hubei Province. Fungal isolates were obtained from these samples, yielding three species: Botryosphaeria dothidea (anamorph Fusicoccum aesculi), B. rhodina (anamorph Lasiodiplodia theobromae), and B. obtusa (anamorph Diplodia seriata). They were identified based on conidial morphology and cultural characteristics, as well as analyses of nucleotide sequences of three genomic regions: the internal transcribed spacer region, a partial sequence of the β-tubulin gene, and the translation elongation factor 1-α gene. Fusicoccum aesculi was found in all 11 orchards but L. theobromae was found only in Shayang County in the Jingmen region and D. seriata only in Gong'an County in the Jingzhou region. Via artificial inoculation using mycelia on wounded twigs or branches, these three species were all found to be pathogenic, causing dark lesions on the twigs and branches and, sometimes, gum exudation from diseased parts. Isolates of L. theobromae were the most virulent and caused the largest lesions and most copious gummosis, and D. seriata had less gum than the other two species. This report represents the first description of L. theobromae and D. seriata as causal agents of gummosis on peach in China.